“What?”
He took a step closer to me. “Are you mad at me? Or are you pissed at some other asshole who hurt you, and you’re taking it out on me?”
I swallowed and stepped away from him. “I don’t…I don’t want to be with you, Reed. You’ll just end up hurting me like…like…”
“Like who? Mitch? Because if you even think you’re going to compare me to Mitch, then you don’t know me at all, Courtney.”
I put my hands on my hips and straightened out my shoulders. “Does it matter? I know you’ve used women before, Reed. I know you’ve slept with other women, and it was meaningless. You’re no different than the rest of them.”
I turned to walk away, and he grabbed me again, spinning me around.
“Don’t act all innocent, like you’ve only ever slept with Mitch, Courtney. What? You’re a twenty-five-year-old girl who lost her virginity to Mitch? Is that what you’re saying? So, if you want to judge me, let’s hear all your dirty little secrets.”
I tried pulling out of his grip, but my body started to tremble. “Don’t say that,” I whispered.
“Don’t say what? You accused me of being an asshole who sleeps around. Why can we talk about my sex life but not yours?”
An image of Noah popped into my head—him on top of me, telling me how good I felt. I started to feel sick to my stomach.
I let a sob escape from my mouth, and I whispered, “Please let me go, Reed. Please let me go.”
He took one look into my eyes and instantly let me go. “Courtney, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
I put my hand up to my mouth and fought to hold in my tears. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the paper towels before making my way over to the mess on the floor.
Reed stepped in front of me. “I’ll clean it up.”
I looked up at him and sucked in a breath of air. He had tears in his eyes.
I slowly nodded my head and said, “I didn’t mean to say all of that. I just…”
A small smile spread across his face. “It’s okay. I crossed a line, and I’m sorry. I know you’re not a child, and I need to stop treating you like one. I’m sorry.”
He took the paper towels from my hand and bent down. As he began cleaning up the mess, I reached over and turned off the oven and stove before walking out of the kitchen.
I headed straight for the shower where I spent the next hour crying until I had no tears left to cry and scrubbing my body until the smell of Noah was gone.
Kevin had stopped by earlier and helped me with some things that needed to be done around the ranch, and now, I was finally able to sit down and relax. I glanced around, looking for any signs of Courtney.
The last few days, she had been going over to Mimi and Frank’s, the neighbors on the ranch next to Layton’s. I was sure she’d been spending time talking about books with Mimi. She’d even bought Mimi a Kindle Fire HD after receiving the one I’d bought her since the dogs destroyed her original Kindle.
“Mr. Moore?” Johnny
called out.
Johnny was the high school kid I’d ended up hiring last week to help out for a bit until Layton got back from his honeymoon. Johnny was friends with Ryan, the kid Layton had hired last summer.
I stood up and walked over to the gate. “Hey, Johnny. You get everything done?”
He nodded and smiled. “Yes, sir. Miss Will took Tink out for a ride a little bit ago. Should I stay and help her with the horse when she gets back?”
“Nah. Courtney is a big girl. She can handle it. Thanks, dude. I’ll see you tomorrow after church, right? Mr. Morris will be back in the afternoon, and then you can officially meet him.”
He reached out and shook my hand. “Sounds like a plan, sir.”
He turned and headed off to his old Chevy truck, and I headed back to the chair I had been sitting in. It was so damn hot out, and all I wanted to do was jump in the pool, but damn Courtney had me sneaking around, reading this stupid book of hers. I wouldn’t dare tell her I’d bought myself a Kindle, and I had loaded her favorite book on it. I had to know what it was that had always made her want to read it.
It didn’t take me long before I was completely engrossed in Nick and Alexa’s world. I thought I heard a noise, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the Kindle. Nick was just about to—